Harrington and his Oceana : a study of a 17th century Utopia and its influence in America

Front matter

HARRINGTON AND HIS OCEANA

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS

FETTER LANE, E.G.

Preface

MY attention was drawn to the ideas of Harrington when I was studying the history of toleration in the Stuart period. It appeared to me that his influence in England and in her colonies, both at his own time and since, deserved a fuller examination than it had yet received. My tenure of the Allen Scholarship in 1911 enabled me to make some researches both in England and America, which I have brought together in the following essay. I have attempted in the first place to give some account of Harrington's political ideas, describing their origin, their history, and their subsequent influence on two centuries of English political thought ; in the second place, to trace a connection, which has often been surmised but never established, between Oceana and the political institutions of America ; and finally to discuss the revival of Harrington's chief theories in the constitutions of revolutionary France. In this way I hope incidentally to have given a new illustration of the connection between political theory and practice, and to have shown afresh the essential unity of the three great revolutions of modern Europe.

The authorities for a study like this are necessarily various, but they are for the most part readily accessible. The history of Harrington's public life is drawn largely from the Thomason Pamphlets in the British Museum. The contention that Grote's advocacy of the ballot was due to his study of Harrington rests on Grote's unpublished essay on Oceana, vi PREFACE

also in the British Museum. The most important evidence for establishing Harrington's influence in Pennsylvania is supplied by the preliminary drafts of the first constitution of Pennsylvania, which exist in manuscript in the possession of the Pennsylvania Historical Society.

Of secondary authorities little more need be said. There have not been many recent notices of Harrington's work. The article in the English Historical Review (April 1891), and the chapter on Harrington in Franck's Reformateurs et Publicistes de V Europe are nothing but summaries of Oceana. The article by Theodore Dwight in the Political Science Quarterly (March 1887) is more valuable, being written partly from the American point of view. The best accounts are to be found in Masson's Life of Milton, Prof. C. H. Firth's Last Years of the Protectorate, and in Mr G. P. Gooch's History of Democratic Ideas in the Seventeenth Century, to all of which I am much indebted. I had concluded that there must have been some connection between Penn and Harrington before I discovered that the same idea had occurred to Dr W. R. Shepherd, the author of Pennsylvania as a Proprietary Colony. I had studied the influence of Harrington on Siey£s before the appearance of Mr J. H. Clapham's recent book, The Abbt? Sieyes, from which I have, however, borrowed one valuable reference. The fact that these connections have been seen by writers who can be said to have no prejudices in the matter seems to me to lend additional support to a contention which might appear to be due to bias, when made in an essay written for the purpose of tracing Harrington's influence.

Of the editions of Harrington's works something

PREFACE vii

is said in the text. For the present work I have made use of Toland's edition of Harrington's Works, 1747 (the 3rd edition), giving the name of the particular writing to which I have referred and the page on which my reference is to be found in the collected Works.

It is my pleasant duty to acknowledge the courtesy and kindness which were shown me while I was carrying on my investigations in America by scholars too numerous to mention ; and to thank Professor Firth for valuable suggestions in regard to the first four chapters, and Mr E. A. Benians of my own college for reading this essay both in manuscript and proof, and assisting me throughout by his sympathetic criticism.

Sx JOHN'S COLLEGE CAMBRIDGE, March 1914

Chapter I The Author Of Ocean A

Harrington's birth and family — His youth, education, and travels — Effect of his travels on his mental development — His position during the Civil War— His relations with Charles I. — His study of Vergil — The publication of Oceana .....

Chapter II The Form And Method Of Oceana

Utopian form of Oceana — Influence of Howell — Other contemporary " Utopias " compared with Oceana — The classical belief in written constitutions the basis of Harrington's theory — Objections to his imitation of (a) classical ideas, (6) classical methods — Harrington's historical method: due to his admiration of Machiavelli : applied to the Bible : extended to all branches of history — Effects of his method on his style . . . . 12

Chapter III The Political Ideas Of Oceana

Harrington's political theories — The balance of property — Ireton and Harrington — Influence of Rome, the Irish Settlementfthe "Diggers" — Changes in the balance of property in England — Proposed agrarian law — Its social consequences — The four mechanical devices — The ballot — Indirect election — Rotation — Indirect referendum— Previous employment of each of these — The electoral and parliamentary system of Oceana — Church and State in Oceana — The army — The separation of powers — Imperialism — Education — The Academy — The magistracies of Oceana — Miscellaneous proposals — Comparison with Plato's Laws x CONTENTS

Chapter IV Harrington's Public Life And Minor Writings Pagb

Harrington and the Republican party — Cromwell's opposition — His Conservatism — Debate on the "Other House" — Cromwell's death — Richard Cromwell's first parliament — Harringtonian pamphlets — Petition of July 6th, 1659 — Further pamphlets — Ludlow's and Barwick's account of Harrington's party — " A Modest Plea for an Equal Commonwealth " — Constitution-building and pamphleteering— The Rump — Harrington's notoriety in 1659 — Newspaper ridicule — The Rota Club : membership : rules : procedure : dissolution — Milton's Ready and Easy Way — The Restoration . 75

Chapter V Contemporary Criticism Of Harrington's Theories

Oceana criticised as impracticable and exotic : as amateur : as democratic — Objections to rotation and the parliamentary system : to the agrarian — Criticism from the modern standpoint . . . 113

Chapter VI

HARRINGTON'S LAST YEARS. HIS SUBSEQUENT INFLUENCE IN ENGLAND

Harrington's retirement — His arrest — His imprisonment — His last years and madness — His death — Harrington's influence on subsequent writings — Sir W. Petty — Sir W. Temple — Sidney — Nevile — Shaftesbury — Penn — Locke — Revival of Harringtonian theories at the Revolution — Attempts to introduce the ballot — Editions of republican works — Acceptance of Harrington's historical views — Memorial to the Princess Sophia — Cato's Letters — Hume — Utilitarians and Radicals — The ballot — Grote — His study of Oceana — Conclusion . . . . . . . .122

Chapter VII Harrington's Influence In America During The Seventeenth Century

Similarity between Harrington's ideas and American ideas — Due partly to coincidence : partly to the common training of Harrington and the early settlers : partly to the actual study of Oceana — Which is on a priori grounds likely, and proved by other evidence — Constitution of Carolina : its authorship : its connection with

CONTENTS

XI

Oceana : its failure — West New Jersey : its constitution — East New Jersey : its constitution : its connection with Oceana — Pennsylvania — William Penn : he is likely to have been attracted by Harrington as courtier and republican : as idealist : on general grounds — His frame of government for Pennsylvania — History of its formation — The democratic draft — The aristocratic draft — The compromise — Connection with Oceana seen in (a) the drafts, (b) the final preamble, (c) Penn's defence of the constitution, (d) popularity of the book in Pennsylvania — Failure — Final triumph of the Harringtonian ideas — Conclusion ..... 152

Chapter VIII Harrington's Influence On The American Revolution

The American Revolution — Influence of Locke in the destructive period — Influence of other writers — Influence of Harrington as revolutionary : as classic : as martyr to liberty — The constructive period — Harrington's influence in Virginia : in the States influenced by Adams : in Massachusetts — Proposal to change the name of Massachusetts to Oceana — Cult of Harrington in Massachusetts — Adams' defence of the State constitutions — Conclusion. . . 185

Chapter IX Harrington's Influence In France

Political theory and the French Revolution — Montesquieu— French translations of Harrington — Reasons why Oceana was studied — Sieyes — Comparison between Sieyes and Harrington — Sieyes' redivision of France — His constitutional jury — His ideal constitution— Its connection with Oceana — His scheme introduced and modified — Dominion and property — Summary and conclusion . 201

Chapter I The Author Of Ocean A

IN those critical years of dispute between James I. and his parliaments, when the Tudor system of government was on the eve of collapse, history records the birth of the strange writer, who was afterwards to give a logical explanation of the collapse and to suggest to deaf ears a way by which republicanism might avoid the same catastrophe.

Like many of the opponents of the Stuart regime, James Harrington came of a good family, and a family that took pride in its greatness. He could trace his ancestry back to the twelfth century, when a younger branch of the family, at that time influential in Cumberland, came by marriage into possession of the property belonging to Ext on House, Exton, Rutlandshire. Several members of the family achieved fame. Sir John Harrington, created Baron Harrington of Exton in 1603, was a well-known figure in his time. He was selected for his piety and learning to be tutor to the King's daughter, Elizabeth, who afterwards married the Elector Palatine and became the unhappy Winter Queen of Bohemia. His son, a traveller and an accomplished linguist, was Prince Henry's favourite companion ; and his premature death was mourned like the death of Germanicus. Sir John Harrington, the poet, was the first baron's cousin. His father had been one of Henry VIII. 's confidential advisers. He himself, with Queen Elizabeth as his godmother, played a prominent part in the life of the

2 FAMILY HISTORY

Court, combining the parts of poet, wit, and scholar with considerable success. His reputation was such that the royal servants were compelled to lavish every attention on him from fear of the epigrams with which their shortcomings used to be accompanied. His writings were amorous and sometimes indecent, so that he earned from the Queen the title " saucy poet," but at the same time he was able to study the religious questions of the day, and he actually proposed himself as successor to Archbishop Loftus in the Irish see.

The Harringtons were an interesting family with qualities which would win them a place in seventeenthcentury society. They had travelled on the continent. They were linguists, scholars, and gentlemen. They were at the same time men of character and men of charm.

Some painstaking chronologist of the time of James II. calculated that no fewer than eight dukes, three marquises, seventy earls, nine counts, twentyseven viscounts, and thirty-six barons (sixteen out of this total having been made Knights of the Garter) were descendants or nearly allied to the descendants of the baron's father, Sir James Harrington.1 James Harrington himself, in whom we shall see many of the family characteristics, was a great-nephew of the first Lord Harrington, being the eldest son of Sir Sapcote Harrington and Jane, daughter of Sir William Samuel of Upton in Northamptonshire. He was born on Friday, January 3rd, 1611, at the seat of his mother's family.

Of his youth little is known. He was one of eight children, and appears to have been somewhat precocious. His sister, to whom we are indirectly in-

1 Wright, " History and Antiquities of Rutlandshire," p. 52.

EDUCATION 3

debted for much that we know of his life, remembered him as a boy of a grave disposition with a keen desire for knowledge, who rather frightened his parents with his learning.1 He entered Trinity College, Oxford, in 1629, as a gentleman commoner, under the famous rational theologian Chillingworth, whose influence we may perhaps see in Harrington's views of religious liberty. After devoting himself to a study of modern as well as of ancient languages, he left the University without taking a degree. He was admitted to the Middle Temple in 1631.2

The next stage in his education was the one to which he himself attached the greatest importance — travel. The continent was visited in the seventeenth century by a large number of Englishmen, of whom some went to fight, some to avoid persecution, some to study ; others mainly to gain the experience and educational advantages of travel. Those who were in search of employment as soldiers and those who wanted religious liberty generally went to the Netherlands ; students and travellers made their way to Italy, and often came back with a new and wider outlook. This intellectual development, which can be seen in varying degrees in men like Pym, Hampden, Sidney, Penn, Locke, Nevile, Marvell, and Milton — all of whom visited the continent, is unmistakable in the case of Harrington.

Harrington spent the first part of his time in the Netherlands, where he enlisted under the Earl of Craven, in an English volunteer regiment. He was thus brought into contact with the court of the Prince of Orange, as well as that of his great-uncle's pupil, now

1 The life of Harrington by Toland, prefixed to his collection of Harrington's Works, was compiled chiefly from material supplied by the Lady Ashton, his eldest sister.

a "Middle Temple Records," ii. 784.

> > ' FOREIGN TRAVEL wife of the unfortunate exile from the Palatinate. He

soon became a great favourite with Frederick's family, and later we find him trying to repay the kindness which they showed him, by appealing to the Commons to help them in their misfortunes.1 With Frederick he went for a time to the Court of Denmark. On his return he left his position at the Hague, and with a view to completing his education, moved on through Flanders and France to Italy. We know little of his travels, except that he learned the languages of the countries he visited, and made careful observations of their political and social institutions. Isolated stories have been preserved to the effect that he refused to kiss the Pope's toe, and expressed disbelief in contemporary Italian miracles. But that is all. After a stay at Venice, which made a profound impression on him —not by the beauty of its canals, but by the beauty of its constitution — he came home through the west of Germany

The exact date of his return to England is not known. At any rate he was back before the outbreak of the Civil War, equipped with a peculiar training. He had received hospitality from monarchs. He had travelled over the continent at the time of the great unrest and disorder, which spread over the whole of western Europe in the train of the Thirty Years' War. He had witnessed something of the great religious struggles, which seemed to him to cast so deep a stain on the name of religion ; he had visited the Holy See and seen the holder of the office which he accounted solely responsible for this degradation of Christianity ; 2 he had found one little bright spot in a world of chaos—

1 Hist. MSS. Commission, XIII. i. 210.

a " Oceana," p. 59. References are to the third edition of his collected Works (1747).

THE CIVIL WAR 5

an island city with a sense of order and permanence about it. The Netherlands and Venice alike captivated his imagination and roused his enthusiasm, but in a rather different way. In the Netherlands he had seen what a people can do. In Venice he was shown what institutions can achieve. The former turned his interests in the direction of politics ; l the latter made him believe in political science. With his faith in the people and his faith in institutions his mind was moving in the direction of republicanism.

Having assisted in settling the future of his brothers and sisters, who were now growing up and had been left fatherless, while their elder brother was at Oxford, Harrington had his own problem to decide. His interests were political, and it was apparent that he must play a part either as actor or student in the world of politics. The rapid march of events and the growing breach between King and Parliament necessitated some decision, if only a decision to remain neutral. The choice of sides, which troubled many minds at the beginning of the Civil War in England, must have been peculiarly difficult for one whose traditional connection with the court was counterbalanced by a theoretical admiration of continental republicanism. It is therefore not surprising that after having accompanied his Majesty to Scotland in the first Bishops' War (1639) as a member of the Privy Chamber Extraordinary, Harrington retired from activity till the fighting was over.2 It is true that he is reported to have attempted to enter Parliament in 1642, 3 but it was not till January 1647 that he came before the public eye, when hoping to use his influence with Charles to bring about a settlement he attached himself to the Commissioners

1 Toland's Introduction, xiv. 2 Ibid. xv.

3 Wood, " Athenas Oxonienses," iii. 1115.

6 CAPTIVITY OF CHARLES I.

of the Parliament, who were sent to treat with the King at Newcastle.1 He remained with his Majesty until May, and he was then appointed, with Thomas Herbert, Groom of the Bedchamber. He was the obvious man for the post, being in sympathy with the parliamentary party, but liked by the King ; and he had moved in continental courts. He was with Charles during his stay at Holmby House, and went with him to Carisbrooke Castle and then to Hurst Castle. Here he offended the Governor and some Roundhead officers by what was a very moderate defence of the King's attitude with regard to the Treaty of Newport and the proposal for the establishment of Presbyterianism in England, and was dismissed from his post .2 On Charles's removal to Windsor he was permitted to return for three or four days, but was again dismissed for refusing to swear not to assist in any attempt to procure his Majesty's escape.3 He was imprisoned for a short time for his obstinacy, but he managed to see his beloved King once again before his death, received a present from him, and witnessed the execution.

This affection between one of the most determined, if not one of the greatest, of the republicans of the time and the sovereign who has enchanted half posterity by his kingliness is not a little remarkable. But both were men who could admire the personal qualities of their friends, however much they disagreed on questions of politics. Harrington was a good example of an English gentleman. He is described as a man

1 Wood, "Athenae Oxonienses," iii. 1115, and Herbert, " Memoirs of the Two Last Years of the Reign of ... King Charles I.," p. 7.

a Ibid. iii. 1116 ; Herbert, p. 90.

3 Toland, xvii., and " Kingdom's Moderate Intelligencer " of Jan. 2, 1649. If we follow Toland and accept two dismissals of Harrington, the difficulty which Gardiner sees (vide " Civil War," iii. 548, note) disappears.

HARRINGTON AND THE KING 7

" of a middling stature, a well trussed man, strong and thick, well sett, sanguine, quick — hott — fiery hazell eie, thick moyst curled hair " ; x a man " of a very liberal and compassionate nature " ; 2 " in his conversation very friendly and facetious and hospitable." 3 He was adored by his family ; he was beloved by various friends, to whom he gave financial support as well as friendship ; he delighted the young princesses at the Hague by his grace ; he found a place in the heart of the King. Aubrey, who was one of Harrington's greatest friends, alluding to the political discourses with which Harrington entertained the King during this unhappy period, bears witness how " the King loved his company ; only he would not endure to heare of a Commonwealth ; and Mr Harrington passionately loved his Majestic " ; and he says further that Harrington was so much distressed by the death of the King that he " contracted a disease by it." 4 But he was not shaken in his republican principles by the charms of one that bore the name of King.

While England was making her first experiments in republican government, her republican philosopher remained in retirement. He was studying ancient history and continuing the collection of political writings, which he had started at Venice, preparing for future fame. One of his hobbies during this period was a translation of Vergil. He was no poet, as his friend Nevile, the author of " Plato Redivivus " and the leader of Harrington's party in the parliament of 1659, wisely told him.5 But he was inspired by the examples of the statesmen he admired — Moses, Lycurgus, Machiavelli

1 Aubrey, " Brief Lives," i. 293. 2 Toland, xvi.

8 VERGILIAN TRANSLATIONS

— to try his hand at versification, and he produced translations of certain Vergilian eclogues and the first six books of the " JEneid," which were published in 1658 and iGsg.1 The translations are not very successful. They are not without interest as early specimens of English renderings of Vergil, but their chief importance lies in the light which they throw on the nature of Harrington's mind ; for they show an artistic sense, subservient always to the artist's interest in politics. In his rendering of the " Eclogues " he could not refrain from introducing his pet theory of the " balance or property/' first as a note explaining the fall of the Roman Empire, then as an ode to the theory which could explain it,2 while in his translation of the " ^Eneid " he did not hesitate to distort a passage in the fourth book so as to introduce the same theory into the text itself.3 But translating Vergil was only a hobby. The real work in which he was engaged during the seven years which succeeded the execution of the King was preparation for the composition of " Oceana." The book which was to win him fame was written in response to a request for some public protest against the Instrument of Government. A fairly persistent rumour credited Nevile with a share

1 " An Essay upon two of Virgil's Eclogues and two books of his ^Eneid," 1658, and " Virgil's ^Eneid, the Third, Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Books." James Harrington, 1659.

2 The title of this ode was " The Political Ballance."

3 The passage runs as follows : —

Is she, of whom bright Empire first was born, While men for Acorns tasting bread, began To parcel fields by laws Agrarian, And hence (as lots have chanc'd to rise or fall) Become the prize of One or Few or All."

This means, as will be seen when the theory is examined in chapter iii., that power depends on property, and that the number of the landowners determines whether the government is monarchial, oligarchic, or democratic.

OCEAN A AND THE CENSORSHIP 9

in its composition. Hobbes appears to have started it, and it was continually hinted at by Stubbe, one of Harrington's chief literary opponents, who speaks of the " authors " and not the author of " Oceana." But it is of very little importance whether the rumour was true or not. As soon as the book was published and its doctrines popularised, the history of Harrington becomes merged in the history of the Harringtonians.

The publication of the work was not an easy matter. Thurloe's well-trained secret service got wind of its existence while it was passing through the press, and confiscated it. The year 1656 was not a happy year for authors who wished to promulgate doubtful doctrines. The Press Act of June 14, 1643 against which Milton had written " Areopagitica," the ordinance of September 28, 1647, Bradshaw's Act of September 20, 1649, renewed on January 7, 1653, and the further Order of the Council of September 5, 1655, were directed almost entirely against the anti-Cromwellian newspapers and prurient and indecent publications. Imprimaturs for books and pamphlets had not been hard to obtain, and both sides of most of the burning questions of the day had been stated with considerable freedom. But by the order of August 18, 1655, " against Scandalous Books and Pamphlets and for the Regulation of Printing/1 a much greater strictness was enforced, affecting the regular book trade.1 Cromwell was gradually tightening the reins of his government ; he had instituted his system of major-generals ; and on November 27th he issued instructions for the suppression of the use of the Prayer Book in private houses. The greater stringency in dealing with the press was a part of this process

10 CROMWELL'S OPPOSITION

of extirpating opposition to his rule by measures of police.

The story told by Toland of how permission to print " Oceana " was finally obtained is a pretty one, illustrating Harrington's fondness for doing things in a picturesque way. He won the father • over by first getting at his favourite daughter. The Lady Claypole was the child of Cromwell's heart, and it was her early death that helped to hurry him to the grave. She was generally able to get her way with her father. As Toland wrote, " she acted the part of a Princess very naturally, obliging all persons with her civility, and frequently interceding for the unhappy." ' To this Lady, though an absolute stranger to him, he thought fit to make his application ; and being led into her Antichamber, he sent in his Name with his humble request that she would admit him to her presence. While he attended, som of her Women coming into the room were followed by her little Daughter about three years old, who staid behind them. He entertained the Child so divertingly, that she suffer 'd him to take her up in his arms till her Mother came ; whereupon he stepping towards her, and setting the Child down at her feet, said ' Madam, 'tis well you are com at this nick of time, or I had certainly stolen this pretty little Lady.' ' The mother was somewhat astonished and could not understand Harrington's behaviour, and she was no more enlightened when it was explained as a retaliation for Cromwell's theft of his own offspring. But when she learnt that " Oceana " was meant, that the book had been misrepresented and contained nothing prejudicial to Cromwell's government, she was won over, and having been promised one of the first copies, persuaded her father to restore the confiscated material.

PUBLICATION OF OCEAN A 11

Oceana " was finally published late in 1656, without the author's name.1 It was dedicated to the Protector, who was given the formidable task of converting England into Oceana and retiring into private life at the conclusion of his work, to die at the ripe age of one hundred and sixteen.

1 It is advertised as newly published in " Mercurius Politicus," October 23 — November 6. Cf. Firth, " Last Years of the Protectorate," i. 68.

Chapter II The Form And Method Of Oceaxa

" OCEAN A/' the only one of his works by which Harrington is now remembered, is written in the form of a Utopia. This fact accounts for whatever notoriety it has to-day, as well as for the merriment with which it was received at the time of its composition. Utopias are generally regarded as literary curiosities which have been made respectable by illustrious names, rather than as serious contributions to the political problems which troubled the age at which they appeared. Plato, the greatest of all writers of Utopias, in some of the most pathetic words that were ever used in literature, acknowledged in the end that his suggestions were impracticable. " I don't think it exists anywhere on earth," he said of the Republic, ' but perhaps in heaven it is set up as a pattern for him who will to gaze on and by his gaze to make himself like it. It doesn't matter, if it does or can exist." 1 More made no such apology, but as Chancellor of England he never attempted to introduce the reforms which he had sketched in " Utopia " into the country which he helped to govern. Harrington was at once classed in the same category as an unpractical idealist. But "Oceana," although in the form of. an ideal state, is a work of a different type from the " Republic " or " Utopia." It was meant neither for the skies nor for some spot on earth that did not exist, but for England. Its author had very clearly defined views

1 Plato, " Republic," 592 B.

IS

FORM OF THE WORK 13

as to the needs of his country, and his love of the picturesque prompted him to bring them forward in the form of what he called a " political romance." The scene is laid in England, which appears as Oceana. The hero of the story is Cromwell, who under the pseudonym of Olphaus Megaletor is depicted as being troubled at night time by pondering over what a single man, Lycurgus, was able to do for Sparta. Fired by this example, he calls together a number of political scientists, and together they produce a new constitution. Cromwell is given a post not unlike that of Protector, and institutes the new order. He waits till the wheels are running smoothly, and finally retires into private life, leaving England the most prosperous and contented republic in the world. The book, stripped of its allegorical trappings, is little more than a magnified written constitution. Without having the poetical atmosphere of the legendary Utopia, it goes into details which a constitutional document does not presume to include, but it never leaves the political standpoint or wanders off into impossible suggestions that could not be realised in practice. It is a definite proposal for solving the difficulties in which England had become entangled since the abolition of monarchy, and one which its author hoped Cromwell might be induced to consider.